I worked at Health and Environmental Control Department of South Carolina full-time (more than 3 years)

Pros

Experience, making contacts, and resume building.Inherent public employee benefits such as annual leave and vacationDepending on where in the Agency you work, you may be able to work flex schedules

Cons

No raises available in the Agency during my 4 year tenure (not even cost of living)-Field staff are payed extremely low-Low and middle management isn't paid enough either-Many managers do not have related educational background-Too often there is a lack of scientific culture and curiosity

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Please recognize that most employees receive extremely poor compensation and have equally poor prospects for professional advancement. Due to this problem DHEC is loosing quality staff. The associated high turnover rate is leading to an overall reduction in the quality of the Agency.

Stop the degradation of DHEC by providing a clear pathway to pay increases. Opportunities for advancements within a classification (or by promotion to a new classification) should be used to promote growth of employees.

The only pathway to a bigger paycheck for most employees during was to apply for a new position in a different field. This would "waste" the experience of that employee because their old position is filled by someone who needs training and is often less qualified. This amounts to internal "brain-drain" on top of the obvious losses of staff to other employers.

There are still some great staff left in the Agency but most of them seem to be sticking around out of convenience. Some of these people are unwilling/unable to move from their current location for new employment. Others might have flexible work schedules which allows them to support their family better.

Doesn't Recommend

Negative Outlook

Health and Environmental Control Department of South Carolina Response

I worked at Health and Environmental Control Department of South Carolina full-time (more than 8 years)

Pros

People you work with, both internally and externally.In my area at least, interesting work which presented new challenges and potential for learning.T-I-M-E...37.5 hr work week (theoretically, at least), 3 weeks paid leave, 3 weeks sick leaveThe opportunity to serve the citizens of South Carolina, a fantastic place to live!

Cons

Too many layers of upper management means you spend a seemingly endless amount of time accounting for, briefiing, discussing, and reporting rather than actually working on the task assigned.Knee-jerk reactions are all too common and create a startled and frenzied work environment where prductivity dives as confidence in actions by employees are shaken.Communication up and across stands to be greatly improved.Sometimes common sense takes a back seat to a perception-focused interpretation of policies or procedures. Rather than solving an issue, it's more important to appear to be solving the issue.

Advice to ManagementAdvice

Slow down on the appearance of action. Listen, really listen to the folks on te front line every day. Then act, really act upon the actual issues at hand. Make it possible for managers to manage a team of empowered individuals rather than manage a case load of work plus some administrative personnel duties. Stop meeting for meeting sake.

Health and Environmental Control Department of South Carolina Response

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